History Repeats
by no-rhyme-no-reason-in-love
Summary: Isshin worries for his son's future.


A/N: Yup…I have writer's block again! I'm trying, but it's like pulling teeth. Everything I write is awful, and I keep rewriting the new chapter. I'm on my fourth draft, and it's still not what I want. Sigh. Please be patient with me. I'm really trying.

To make up for it, this one-shot coincides with the events that occur in Bleach and Hello Halcyon Days, and you can even see two events that have yet to happen in my story, so enjoy!

* * *

She'll destroy him. You know this. You know this, and yet you say nothing to your son because you're reluctant to bring it up. Because if you bring it to his attention, bring up the fact that he has _her_ attention, you're afraid of him returning her feelings. Because she'll destroy him. You know this. You know because it happened to you with Masaki.

You know that it's already too late to stop them. You see the way he acts around her. You see how he adjust himself to her, and it's not because she can't take your punkish kid's attitude. She can. You have a feeling that she loves that side of him. No, it's because she brings out a side of him that you thought had died six years ago. And it seems fitting that she can do this to him. It's her power, isn't it? To reject trauma and return something to its original state. She makes his edges become smooth, makes his scowl less present, makes him vulnerable in the greatest way, and she does all this without even knowing that she _can_ do it. She changes him without even trying, and you know that your son doesn't stand a chance against her because Fate has already decided what to with them.

This should comfort you, but it doesn't. You're terrified for your son. Because if he takes after you, and you know that he does, he'll give up everything for her. You saw him do it once, and it was different than the time when he went after your proclaimed third daughter. That time, he had said that he would be back. He had said goodbye. But when he went after _her_ , there was nothing, and you knew that your son wasn't so sure if he would be back. And you would have stopped him, but it would have been for nothing. Because if you were in his position, you would have done the exact, same thing.

You're scared for you son, and you're scared for your daughters because you can clearly see the attachment growing between your twins and her. And on the night when she had stayed over, when you saw your daughters surrounding her, for the smallest, briefest amount of time, you thought you saw your love, and you even rubbed your eyes with the heel of your hand to make sure that it was your eyes playing tricks on you. And you find hilarity in all of this because your wife and the girl look nothing alike, but they have that quality that only certain people have. That gravitational pull, and it's funny how your son is fated to revolve around the woman he loves just like how you were fated to revolve around the woman you love.

History is repeating, and you want to stop it because Shiba men have the most terrible luck in love. And it's not because they end up with the wrong person; it's because they end up with the only person that they are meant for. They, somehow, manage to gain the love of their fated partner, and then, always, _always_ , the Shiba men lose their love. They lose their love tragically, and it's the most painful thing in the world.

So when you see the way she looks at him, you feel sick to your stomach because that's how Masaki used to look at you. That's how Miyako used to look at Kaien, and you can feel it all repeating. You can feel it in your bones, and you _hate_ it.

And you see the future in the present when he comes home with blood covering his arms and hands. You see how broken he is, broken and shattered over a girl that he doesn't even realize that he loves, and you know that it will be a million times worse when he finally _does_ realize it. You know that if he ever loses her, he won't recover. Because he won't _want_ to recover, and you'd understand because you felt the same when you lost Masaki.

The night he comes home with a smile on his face, an aura of complete ease and happiness, you know that it's done. It's out of your hands, but you can't help trying to warn him anyhow. Warn him subtly that he can't _just_ date her but all your son hears is disapproval, and you see him storm to his room. All you can do is turn to the poster of your one and only and ask her what you should do. How can a father watch as his son follows his footsteps? How can you ever handle seeing your son suffer the pain that you suffer every single second of the day?

But, like you know, it's already too late to stop them. So you just watch as your son falls so deeply, so madly, so foolishly in love with her. Watch as your daughters start to view her as family. Watch as she becomes someone that your family can't imagine living without.

It's when your son enters your office and tells you, not asking, he'll be marrying her, that you have the strangest feeling of absolute sadness and…relief. Because it's in that moment when you see the determination in his eyes that you see yourself. You see the past in the present, and you get up from your chair and leave him standing in the doorway. You come back after retrieving the little box you've had in your room for all these years, and you toss it to him. He opens it, and you can see his surprise and disbelief. And you tell him, not asking, that he should use his mother's ring because she would've wanted it that way.

You can see that he doesn't need your approval, but he wants it, and you tell him that being with her will always feel like heaven. You tell him that he won't ever be complete without her, and you see his eyes lower because he understands. He finally understands that you're not afraid of him being with her. You're afraid of him being _without_ her. So afraid that you were torn between helping him notice her and hoping that he never does. But you finally understand that he should have the chance to experience his time in the sun even if it'll end in tears because you wouldn't trade the brief time you had with Masaki for anything. Because the happiness you felt with her outweighs the sadness you feel without her.

So you know that she'll destroy him. Just like you know that the sun will someday destroy the Earth. But when you see your son smile at his bride, you realize that's another trait of Shiba men that you forgot about; they rather die in a blaze than live in shadows.


End file.
